Hidden House Trail update

We started working at The Oxfordshire Museum in January 2012. After four weeks of Saturday workshops we came to the conclusion of investigative, creative workshops. The girls on the project have created a trail for people to complete and put on show their own creations of gloves, writings and chatelaines.

The trail celebrates the elements of Oxfordshire’s heritage that inspired them and highlights the idea that people would have lived there, the once Fletcher’s house. In almost every house there was a gloveress – part of the renowned cottage gloving industry in Woodstock and a house such as the Fletcher’s would have certainly had a chatelaine wearing housekeeper.

This is truly a dynamic experience, for the girls on the project, and anyone who visits the trail.

I am very proud to have opened the trail and exhibition to the public yesterday with a private view. We had a warm welcome and a great result.

The exhibition also celebrates the Hidden project as a whole with photo montages and exhibits from Wantage.

Today, I am physically worn out and just trying to recover before doing all of the follow work required for this mammoth project.

I look forward to writing a more complete account of the Woodstock element and Hidden as a whole.

I also cannot wait to put into writing my findings along the journey that was: a heritage project for 16-25s aiming to debunk the history is boring myth.

Exquisite Arts

I went to a party recently as support for a friend of mine. This was no ordinary party. My friend, no ordinary friend.

I was accompanying a folk harpist to a public party in London. Little did I know of such things. To me, being a child of the late 80s, a public party could mean all kinds of unreasonable things. While we are on the subject, let me get this straight right now. I did not think I was going to an unreasonable party when I agreed to go. My friend had described the event to me as a gig in a club.

What I discovered as the night rolled on was something incredible. Six rooms of an old factory were transformed into a colourful paradise of cabaret, vaudeville and art. The guests were disguised in intricate costumes and staff members were often head to toe in feathers. In every moment a performance of physical skill or musical talent were transpiring simultaneously in different sections of the building. With all this excitement, there was no rush, little pushing and squashing. The audiences were appreciative and outgoing.

This was a party that was celebrating in style.

I saw a total of three bands which blew my mind and inspired me to be more creative. I saw an aerial artist which I critiqued quietly with great pleasure. A stilt walker, a miniature orchestra, several DJs, beautiful illustrations and installations on exhibition. Fantastic live drawing which is one of my new favourite spectacles.

I had a spoilt youth full of exquisite performances, music, art and events. Tarby Davenport being a connoisseur of musical and theatrical performance provided me with a strong taste for great art. Very few times since being in close contact with her work, have I been as excited or happy at an arts event as at this one.

It could have been one of those nights where an event just fell right for me. I would like to guess not. This event prioritizes high quality and lots of it.

When art in any form has the ability to instil a sense of humility and inspire you, you have probably found exquisite art.

 

Freelance Identity: Polecat

And what do you do? You are a freelancer.

 You sit up there on your own and let people look at you.

Being a freelancer is being 100 people in one body. A whole company in one. Whatever it is that you offer, you have to offer all of that from yourself. Social life and work life is inside out and often waiting in the wash pile for you to cleanse and iron. Your are your own accountant, your own marketing department, your own publicity, PR, HR and list goes on till you get to the item that is the passion.

Many creative people become a “freelancer” because this is the only way that they can truly follow their heart. For some people it is a way out of an office or unhealthy environment. For others, some may say, it is simply the top of the top: consultant. When you have succeeded and this is the logical next step.

Being a freelancer has many freedoms that when you are office bound, you can only dream of. Working remotely is a lifestyle choice. Perhaps a bespoke room in your house. Or is it an out building. When tired eyelids droop at the office desk surrounded by babbling phones and torturous deadlines, your own kettle and cheese plant seems like bliss. The grass is always greener. The humble officer worker forgets that he is a pack animal… like all human beings.

Being a freelancer has its trappings. You are accountable. Your photos on Facebook matter in a different way. A trip to the local supermarket becomes a nice break from working alone and your evening catch ups with your friends are longed for during the day. You begin to wonder what other people are doing in the same industry. Perhaps someone has a good idea for something that you are thinking on. Maybe someone else out there is also finding it hard too… or is it just you?

Of course it is just you. You are the only one there.

Yes being a freelancer is a tricky business. If you don’t keep on top of your identity, the space in-between can eat you up.

I would like to think that my identity as a freelancer is someone who is adaptable, who will work against the odds and bring her team in around her to ensure a great outcome. Someone who’s passion is making it work. Keeping a close eye on your professional identity is hard work if there are not many other freelancers around you to check in with.

I love working with OYAP Trust because I get to see them and work in their office once a week. This keeps me up to speed. This has been essential for me as a young person entering my career through working freelance.

Freelancers out there, what is your freelance identity?

POLE CAT

Personable

Organisation

Liabilities

Enthusiasm

Cautious

Attention

Tolerance

Producing a large scale project is like running relay.

Here we are. The new year has well and truly started. Unusually I had a fantastic Christmas which has been followed by a happy start to the year.

As I anticipated, I hit the ground running. A couple of false starts. The thing about running a relay race is that all your team mates have to be ready to start. I admit that I was so eager that I had a false start and tried to begin work on the bank holiday Monday after new years. No harm in that.

Once we got going, we have been running fast and I love it. Working in a large team for the Hidden project means that I have the opportunity to work with some really great people. When I have run my stretch as the producer I have to down tools a little and pass the baton onto a team mate to run the next lap.

Tomorrow, we are having our third out of four sessions for the Woodstock project. I love these sessions with our artist and every time I am inspired by her working methods and outcomes. My job in these sessions, apart from evaluation and taking photos, is to pass the baton to her and sit back. All the usual responsibilities for accident and emergency of course. Even so, having produced the whole project in three villages, it always makes me feel very odd when I sit back helplessly and watch the creative process unfold.

The participants on our projects have amazed me with how they engage and their creative ideas along the way. I find myself feeling very proud of them.

I hope to write soon on the inside story to the trail at The Oxfordshire Museum: “The secret life of a gloveress.”

Xmas eve update

I am sat in bed waiting for the moment that I feel ok with laying down with my book.

In the last couple weeks before my xmas break, I believe that I had two evenings to myself while the rest of the time was split between three jobs and other commitments. I made a decision one week into December that I was going to push hard up till my break then have a jolly good one.

I am glad that I pushed hard but this has made me unwell. I am not happy with that at all. I just hope that I recover quickly so that I can put some energy into revitalising my personal aspects before another more long term hard push.

I have the last of three Hidden projects to deliver in the new year. The worrying thing is that it is very soon in the new year. I might even have to hit the ground running as soon as the sore head from new year mends with posters and phone calls galore.

Anyway, here is to a good Christmas. I have just finished nursing my hot toddy and feel ready to sink into my book in peace. Just not possible with a room full of cats and relatives.

Have a good one.

Saying Thank You is more important than you think.

I learnt a long time ago that saying thank you, is more important than you think.

“It’s their job,” or, “I am paying them to do that,” or maybe, “Why should I,” perhaps, “I would do the same,” pops into some people’s mind. This is the exact time where a thank you is important.

People work hard every day. People have many forces and tasks pulling their energy and the amazing thing is, they do not actually have to do any of it. There is choice involved. The choice to do it.

And in my recent experience, people have chosen to act with dedication and care to support a project that I believe in.

Hidden Trail completed, I look back and have so much to be thankful for. The people of Wantage are welcoming and open. I will be writing thank you letters to all our major supporters. While I ran around frantically to make the project work, these people were graciously supporting the whole project and its needs for success.

Thank you Wantage.

Losing the graduate edge

The most feared in any industry: the graduate. The ‘arts’ should be suspicious and wary of this creature. Textbook evaluation methods, Gantt chart project management and deeply philosophical ideals. While we rest our tired feet we wonder where our energy went and groan at their naïvité. Don’t we?

Like a teenager before the harsh lessons of love, our graduates’ belief in the power to conquer all seems to get knocked down by bureaucracy. In short they lose the graduate edge.

A year ago that was me. I simply could not understand why arts organisations designed their projects to fit the funding critique and then produced evaluation reports illustrating the benefits of the arts. The real intentions behind projects seemed to get lost in meeting criteria and then in proving it was worth while. Evaluation reports did not convey learning points for improvement. It was all good news only to please the funders. I suspected all arts organisations of the same crime. In my eyes the solution was simple.

I spoke up at a public discussion with all the big names in attendance. I dared to ask about the futility of making arts organisations prove something entirely subjective. The response was a polite deflection. Speaking to the panel of arts organisers afterwards I was left with no hope for the state of the industries evaluation reports.

A year on from this and I am no longer concerned with the injustice of shimmering evaluation reports. As I look around I am yet another person in the system trying to use funding for the greater good. In my case, the funding criteria happened to fit my project plan.

At this mid-point between graduate and young professional, I find myself looking to my superiors with great respect and awe. I am glad to be working with people who report on all aspects which pleases the graduate inside.

Be kind to your graduates, if you can keep them on side as they take the bitter pill, you might find a great union.

Originally posted on Arts Professional: http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/view.cfm?id=6018&issue=245